Totally Tomboy
by canyouimaginethis
Summary: Luke is in high school and has many friends. He's in the 'cool cliche' and has some amazing talents. He has some friends that are girls, but one of them is a total tomboy. And, becomes an ultimate dance rival.
1. Chapter 1

Luke's POV

* * *

"Okay, can you do this?" I ask, busting out a dance move.

"Pfft...beginner's stuff." she copies the dance move. "Is that all you got Ross?"

"No. Okay, how about this?" I do a coffee-grinder, twist on my hand, and stand up. She breathes out, gets on the floor and does the move. I hate to admit it, but I think she does a better coffee-grinder than me. And I'm, like, the best dancer ever!

"My turn," she says, "Can you do this move?" she flips over, stands on her head, turns around, and, (probably just to annoy me,) does my favorite move.

"Really?" I ask. She shrugs. I do the move. "But can you do you do this move?" I do a one handed cartwheel and crash into the coffee table.

"Uh, yes, but no thanks." she replies. She walks over and offers me her hand. I grab it and she pulls me up. "You need to work on cartwheels."

"Yeah," I say, rubbing the back of my neck. "No kidding." The elevator opens and Jessie comes into the room, carrying a bag of stuff. "Hey Jessie."

"Hey." she says. She places down her bag and looks at the girl next to me. "Who are you?"

"That's Kris. She's one my friends." I answer.

"Oh," she says, a funny look on her face. "Oh, okay, a friend, okay..." she walks out of the room into the kitchen.

"Anyway, can you do this?" I ask, putting out one of my classic moves that I love, which includes a head spin. She does the move flawlessly.

"I thought you were the best." she announced.

"I am the best." I claimed.

"I don't think so." she smirks.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I'll show you that the best." I began. 'And you're gonna eat those words and choke on them. But first," I say, "We should step away from the coffee table." she nods and we step away from the smashed table. I can't believe Jessie didn't notice and/or question that. She can be so blind sometimes. "You might want to back up."

"Why? So you won't crash into me?" she questions.

"Actually, yeah."

"Good Point." she admits. She takes a few steps back, standing next to the ledge in front of the fire place.

"Ready?"

"Just dance already Ross." I take in a deep breathe and start busting out my moves. Easiest and not as impressive first, then harder, more complicated, and impressive, then finally, super hard moves that should really impress her. I do my final move-combo:

First, I drop down and push myself off the ground and stand up.

Second, twist and spin.

Finally, Back flip, do my favorite move, but as I try to finish one final spin move, I slip and fall forward, crashing into Kris. I end up on top of her. I groan, since I hit my leg against the ledge and it really hurts.

"Oh my Gosh!" I hear Jessie scream from behind me. "LUKE! What are you doing?"

"Uh, dancing?"

"No, you are not! What were you-" at that moment a scream comes from upstairs. "I'll be back! This is not over!" I peek over my shoulder and see her scuttle across the floor, she starts to climb the stairs. She turns around quickly. "And get off her!" she leaves the room. I look at Kris.

"Well that was awkward." I say.

"Uh Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still on top of me." she points out.

"Oh yeah, right-"I reply, blushing. I get off of her, brush myself off, and offer her my hand. She takes it and I pull her up.

"You know what?" she asks.

"What?"

"You aren't the best."

"Oh yes I am."

"You tripped over you're own to feet on that last move."

"So? Happens all the time."

"Maybe for you." she says, stepping closer. She gets in my face. "But the best wouldn't have done that." she spits out.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

I get closer. "You wanna make a bet?"

"Sure, if your up for it Ross."

"Fine. Dance contest. Me and you. All types of dance. We'll have my family decide the winner. And the winner takes all."

"Fine, but remember, family sometimes choose the person they like more. Their family member."

"Scared?"

"No. My nanny isn't judging the contest."

"Touche`."

"You up for it Ross?" she holds out her hand for me to shake.

"Totally." I grab her hand. "You?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." she smiles. We shake on it. Kris's phone goes off. "That's my mom. She's waiting for me downstairs." She walks over to the couch and brags her bag. She starts to walk over to the elevator. "I can't believe I came over to study and we didn't get anything done." She presses the down button for the elevator.

"I know right? Crazy. Who knew dancing could be so time consuming?" she rolls her eyes.

"Anyway, I gotta go. See you tomorrow Ross." she says, stepping into the elevator. The doors start to close.

"See ya Kris."


	2. Chapter 2

Luke's POV

* * *

After school, I meet Kris outside of the school building.

"Ready to get your butt whooped Ross?" she asks.

"Speak for yourself. I'm gonna win."

"We'll see Ross, we'll see." We arrive at the hotel. We walk into the lobby and I hit the UP button on the elevator. The doors open and we step in, and I press the PENTHOUSE button. The elevator rises and finally the doors open to reveal my family's penthouse apartment. We place down our bags and sit down on the couch.

"Where's your family?" Kris asks.

"I don't know. I'll go find them." I run upstairs. Emma is on her bed, texting. "Emma, can you come down and judge my dance contest?"

"In a sec, I'm texting Katie...and-done!" she puts her phone in her pocket. She follows me out of her room. "And what dance contest?"

"I challenged Kris to a dance off. Kris kept saying that I wasn't the best, so I challenged-"

"I get it." I knock on Zuri's door.

"What?" she calls.

"I need you to help judge a dance contest." I yell through the door.

"Ugh, fine. But I'll need to come up in a few minutes to check up on my cupcakes." she opens the door and walks out.

"Hello brother." Ravi says from behind me.

"Ravi, can you judge a dance contest?"

"Sure! No problem!" he says. All that's left is Jessie.

"Come on guys." I say. We go down the stairs. Kris is walking around. She looks up at me and my family.

"These are our judges? Wow." Kris says.

"Hey, I thought you said you were challenging Kris." Emma asks.

"That is Kris." I answer.

"Oh, Kris is a girl, okay, got it. I was a little bit confused for a second there but I got it." she replies. Okay... The kitchen door opens and reveals Jessie. She looks at me, then Kris, then the other kids.

"Hey Jessie, could you be a judge for the dance off?" I ask.

"A dance-off?" she looks confused. "When did you schedule a dance off?"

"Yesterday."

"And it's between you and Kris?"

"Yeah." she looks around, pondering this. "I guess I can."

"YES! Thanks Jessie!" I cry. I turn around to Kris. "You ready?'

"Yeah, for you to get your butt whooped by a girl!" she replies. I glare at her.

"Let's just get started, shall we?" I hit a button and music starts to play.

"You're first." Kris says. I roll my eyes, nod, and start to dance.

* * *

Jessie's POV

* * *

I have to admit, when I saw Luke on top of that girl yesterday, at first, I really freaked out. I mean, what nanny wouldn't be? I never got to see the end of it when I was going to ask him what he thought/was doing. Then today they're having a dance-off. What is going on?

But Luke is going first, and he's doing well. I think he's dancing well, and I want to see this girl dance. Luke has always been an amazing dancer, and I've never seen anyone ever show him up. I wonder how good this girl is.

"Okay, you're turn." Luke says to Kris.

"Ready to lose?" she challenges.

"I know you are but what about me?" he replies.

"Me? I don't think so. I know I'm gonna win."

"Oh yeah? Well-"

"This is a dance contest, so get on with the dancing already!" Zuri calls. The two look at each other, shrug, and Luke backs up so Kris can dance. Kris starts.

I'm not impressed-wait, what?

Kris started out simple, not impressive. Then she pulled out an excellent coffee-grinder. And she keeps on getting better. The song ends, and I have no idea who won. This girl might be the only person who may beat Luke that I've meet.

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

Kris finishes dancing as the song ends, and I can tell that everyone is impressed.

"Okay, let's have a vote. Kris or me?" I announce.

"Luke, I have to choose you." Jessie says. 1-0. Emma's next.

"Definitely Kris." she answers. 1-1.

"Ravi?"

"I choose you brother." he replies. 2-1. Zuri is last.

"Zuri, what do you think?" Jessie asks her. Zuri scratches her chin. She turns to Kris.

"Can you do the worm?" she asks.

"Of course!" Kris answers.

"Then do it." Zuri is smart. She wants to know if Kris can actually do it. I can do it, but I've never seen her do it. I'd like to see this too.

"Okay." Kris says. She lays on the ground and does the worm, pretty well actually. I did it before, and I was pretty good too. Kris stands up. "So, Zuri, what do you think?"

"I think that it's-" she pauses. "Kris."

"Oh come on!" I say. "That makes it a tie! We can't have a tie!"

"Wow Ross, you're taking this very well." Kris chuckled.

"Oh shut it."

"Now, Luke, that's not how we talk to-" Jessie starts but I interrupt her.

"No! I am the better dancer!"

"Obviously you've met your match." Jessie conceded. I stare at her. No one has ever beaten me at a dance-off, and no one's been able to match me. How am I losing? Tying is not my thing. I always win. Why am I not the winner? I shake my head and run up the stairs to my room.

I can't believe this is happening.

Has Luke Ross finally met his match?

No. Kris can't be the one who may be able to beat me, she just can't be.

But have I met my worthy competitor?


	3. Chapter 3

Jessie's POV

* * *

Luke runs out of the room after I tell him that Kris may be his match. I mean, they tied. Nobody has ever tied Luke. And I can tell he isn't taking it well.

"Excuse me, Kris, I'm going to go check up on Luke." I excuse myself and go up the stairs. I knock on his door.

"Luke?"

"Go away." I roll my eyes and open the door. Luke is laying on his stomach on his bed. I walk over to him.

"Luke, can we talk?"

"No. There's nothing to talk about."

"Luke-" I sit down on the edge of his bed.

"No Jessie, you don't get it."

"Well can you explain it to me?"

"It's just," he sits up and faces me. "I've never lost before, especially to a girl. It feels so weird."

"If it makes you feel any better, you didn't lose, you tied."

"So? I might has well have lost."

"Don't talk like that. You are an amazing dancer, but maybe you've finally found someone who is just like you."

"Really?"

"Yes Really. See? Good can come out of this. You may have tied, but who knows? You may win next time by a landslide."

"Thanks Jessie."

"No problem."

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

Jessie kind of cheered me up. This may be the first time she has ever tried to pep-talk by not using one of her boring, sad, stories about her old boyfriends back in Texas or wherever she had one, since she had some all over the place. But anyway, I probably looked like a sore-loser after the contest. I should probably apologize to Kris. I mean, we both kinda lost right? I walk out of my room. Zuri is in her room complaining that her cupcakes or whatever she was baking in that fake oven was 'over done.' How can it be over done? It's cooked by a light bulb. Stupid.

I go down the stairs and into the living room. Kris is showing Ravi how to do a coffee-grinder. Ravi is failing miserably. Kris looks up when she sees me. Ravi sees me too, and leaves the room.

"I came to-" I start.

"Apologize?" Kris finishes my sentence for me. "You don't have to. You did nothing wrong. Before I met you at Summer Camp, I was always the best dancer, and when I met you, I wasn't so sure."

"Really?"

"Yeah really. Stupid right? I was excited for this contest to see just how good we both were. I guess we're on the same level."

"Yeah, I guess so. And I thought the same thing too. It's kinda cool to have someone who I know can dance like me, someone who I know I don't have to go simple with."

"Me too." We stop talking for a little while and it gets kind of awkward. Eventually, Kris speaks. "So, I have a cross country meet next Thursday at the park. I was wondering if you could come show this kid on the other team your moves. I ran with him at my old school, and he always believed he was the best dancer ever."

"So, you want me to come to a race to show a kid my killer moves? What's the point of that? To show how awesome I am?"

"And to prove him wrong."

"Sounds good. What time?"

"Five o'clock."

"Got it. See you then."

"Anyway Ross, it was nice of you to come and apologize, even though it wasn't needed."

"Are you for real?"

"Yeah. Most people tell me you're heartless, a person who only cares about dancing and being popular."

"Does it really seem like I'm like that?"

"To me, no, but I guess to others, they just don't know you as well as I do."

"You don't know me."

"Well, I guess I'll get to know you soon." A phone dings. I pull mine out. Nothing. Must be Kris's. I look up at her. "My mom again." she says. "I've gotta go. She's waiting for me in the lobby." she picks up her backpack and goes over to the elevator. She presses the DOWN button. "Once again, nice job in the contest." she steps into the elevator. "You are a worthy adversary."

"As are you. See you tomorrow."

"See ya Ross." And The elevator doors close.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke's POV

* * *

The next day at school, Kris and I discuss the cross country meet by our lockers.

"The course is 3 miles long. It usually takes me about sixteen and a half minutes. Sam usually takes about fifteen minutes and forty-five seconds. After the race, I'll show you where Sam is and you can best him at dancing. Got it?" Kris explains.

"I think so. How good is Sam?"

"I was better than him, kinda, but I'm pretty sure you're better."

"So what happens if I lose?"

"You won't lose. I have total faith in you."

"Gee, well if faith has everything to do with it, maybe I'll just have faith that I will ace the math test. Oh wait, there's one thing. I can't do math." Kris rolls her eyes.

"Whatever. He's not as good as you. I know that." The bell rings. "Just be there on time and don't do anything stupid okay?" And she walks off to her class.

* * *

A Few Days Later...

* * *

Today is Thursday. The cross country team is leaving to go to the meet. I go with Kris. I know where the park is, I just don't want to be late or have Jessie question where I'm going. She always wants details. And besides, if i were to go home, I would not want to leave, or Jessie may make me stay and finish my homework. (Which I don't actually do most of the time.)

* * *

The park is crazy. First there are kids playing, then there's our school team, and another three teams there, and people walking their dogs and other pets. It's really packed.

The race starts. Boys go first. They finish. Kris was about right with Sam's time. It was about fifteen minutes. That kid is fast. Then the girls run. Kris comes in second overall, her time around sixteen minutes. Impressive. Kris comes up to me, sweaty with a towel around her neck, carrying a black water bottle. The scores were tallied. Our school for girls got first, and the boys got third. The race was over. Kris's old school (for the boys) won.

"Nice race." I say.

"Eh, I could've done better. If only Darla didn't beat me." The two were super close at the end, running together most of the race. They started sprinting, and at the last second Darla pulled ahead. The two times's difference was 0.02 seconds. Like I said, it was super close.

"You still did great."

"There's Sam over there. Look, he's dancing, a victory dance probably. What a coincidence." she acknowledges.

"Yeah."

"Come on." she says, grabbing my wrist and dragging me over to Sam. When we reach him he's talking with some of the school's cross country team members.

"Yeah, I totally beat them, again. Ha!" he brags. Kris clears her throat. Sam turns around and looks at her grinning. "Oh, you again. The girl who couldn't run or dance. What do you want?"

"I'm here to show you what dancing looks like."

"You wanna know what dancing looks like?" he spins. "Well, you're looking at it." Wow. Someone's really confident.

"Actually, yes. But I want you to meet Luke. He's my friend at my new school. And, he's a brilliant dancer."

"Brilliant like you? If so, I don't want to see it."

"No, he's better than me-"

"Oo, shocker!" he whispers sarcastically. She punches him in the arm, hard.

"And he's way better than you." Sam starts to take interest.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Fine then. Let's see." He turns to me. "So, Freckle-face, can you do this?" he does a move. I roll my eyes.

"Pfft, amateur." I say. I do my own move.

"Oh really? You call that dancing?" He does another move.

"My nanny is better than you, and she sucks so bad." I do another one of my moves.

"Whoa whoa whoa, you have a nanny? That's so lame!" he says, doing another move.

"I guess I should have thought before I said that. Oh well." We go back to dancing. I have to admit, this Sam kid is good. But not as good as me. And I plan to prove it. Sure, I may have tied Kris, but she's different, no one else understands me like she does. Sam and I continue to compete. People have started watching us, but I mean, who wouldn't? Hello freckles and a good dancer. The perfect combination. The contest keeps on going. After what I think is about twenty-five minutes, I'm pretty exhausted. Sam seems tired too.

"Okay, Final Round. Whoever does the better dance combo wins." Sam says. "And I'll be going first. After I'm done, there won't be much of a show left." he smiles. I smile back. Clump nugget.

"Fine whatever. _Ladies first_." I answer. He glares at me. I shrug and smile. Sam begins his combo. It's impressive and looks pretty complicated. He finishes.

"So, uh, what is your name again?" he asks.

"Luke. Luke Ross."

"Yeah, Luke. So Luke, how does it feel to be crushed?"

"I don't know. Why don't you tell me after I'm done. I'm sure you'll have some first hand experience then." I start my combo. I do what I did with Kris. Gradually build up. Towards the end I'm flipping and doing all sorts of crazy things. I finish. Sam is staring at me. Then he looks at all the bystanders.

"So, citizens that I don't know, who do you think was better, Me, Sam? Or Luke, the other guy?" The people call out names.

"Sam! Sam!"

"Luke! Luke!"

"Okay, this is not working. So, when I call out either of our names, if you think that we won, clap as loudly as you can. Got it?" Nods from the crowd, and a few yeses. "Okay then. Sam!" Lots of clapping. I'm not so sure anymore. The clapping dies down when Sam lowers his hands. "And, Luke!" Tons of clapping. Lots of clapping. I think it's official. I think I won. Sam lowers his hands again. "Kris?" he says, looking at Kris. "Which group of clapping was the loudest?"

"Luke's. Definitely."she answers. Sam looks down in defeat.

"Yes!" I cry. "I can't believe it. I won! I mean, I was pretty sure I was going to win, but still, I WON!" I high-five Kris then pull her into a hug. She's seems kind of shocked and embarrassed at first, then wraps her arms around me too. We break apart. "Thanks Kris."

"For what?"

"You were the one who told me I could beat this kid. You believed in me."

"Yeah, 'cause you're just as good as me." she says. I smile. "By the way, I'm kinda hungry. It's five-thirty and I ran three miles earlier."

"And I just danced for nearly an hour. Okay, let's go get some food. Pizza?"

"Sounds great."

* * *

 **Sorry for the late late late update. There's just so much to do. Anyways, hope you enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

Luke's POV

* * *

The next day at school, the school is a buzz. Lots of people know about the dance off and how I whooped Sam's butt. And because the girls won first, but still, people know about the dance contest. And to make things better, someone videotaped some of it and put it online. And a ton of people have seen it. I've never felt so popular, and I'm already popular. I'm glad I decided to help out Kris.

* * *

It's been nearly two weeks since the cross country meet in the park and the dance contest. It's really died down. Kris has been coming over everyday after school to do 'homework', which actually means dance. Kris is over right now, showing me tap moves. Bertram, luckily is upstairs, so he won't yell at us since Kris is using her taps shoes on the wooden floor.

"I help with little kids dance class with my cousin Kerry, who's twenty-eight. She's great. For the Christmas show we're doing all sorts of different songs from different Christmas Classics. For our eight and nine year-olds we're going really fast, well, for them actually, but still relatively fast. You want to see some of the moves?"

"Sure." I say. She does a few moves. "Wow, that's pretty fast."

"Yeah, after a while you're legs get really tired from tapping so much." she says. She unties her tap shoes and put's them in her drawstring bag. Her phone starts to ring. "Hold on a second, it's Kerry. I gotta take this."

"No prob. I'll just sit right here." I plop down on the couch.

"Hey Kerry." Kris says. "Good, how are you? Good. What? You saw the video? Really? Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. I see. Are you sure? He's kinda-okay okay fine. I'll try. I'll ask. I will, really. No I don't. Whatever. He's-okay okay fine Kerry, I said I'll ask. Okay? Cool. See you later then. Bye." She hangs up.

"What was that all about?" I ask.

"Kerry saw the video of you dancing online." she explains. "And, she would like for you to do a dance in the show."

"What? A show with little kids?"

"Not just little. There are even high schoolers there. I promise it will be good."

"Okay then, fine. But how do I dance? What am I going to do?"

"I don't know. She wants to have a talk with you tomorrow. She wants me there too. I guess we'll find out then."

"Okay."

* * *

Saturday Morning

* * *

I've been up for an hour now. I just finished breakfast and the elevator dings. Kris is standing there.

"Hey Kris. Is it time to go?" I ask.

"Yep."

"Hold on, I have to ask Jessie first."

"Okay, but hurry up. Kerry doesn't want us to be late. She has a private session at one."

"Okay, be back in a sec." I run up the stairs to Ravi's room. Jessie is in there, trying to take Mrs. Kipling for a walk. Ravi is working on a big assignment for school (Which I haven't even started and that I could care less about) so Jessie has to take Mrs. Kipling out.

"Hey Jessie, I was wondering if I could go with Kris to her cousin's dance studio."

"You're not getting any more dance lessons. The last time was horrible." She's right. That teacher was pretty bad.

"Oh, no, I'm not going for dance lessons. Kris's Cousin saw the video of me dancing online, and she wants me in her show. She just wants to meet me first."

"Oh okay cool. Go ahead. And remember-"

"Yeah yeah, pepper-spray in pocket in case of an emergency."

"And-"

"And all phone numbers are on speed dial."

"And-"

"And if someone in a white van asks if you need a ride you say no."

"Okay, I guess you're all set. But be back by three okay?"

"Got it. Thanks Jessie."

"Your-wel-come-" she grunts, trying to fight off Mrs. Kipling. I run down stairs to the elevator. Kris is standing there.

"Ready to go?" I ask.

"Yep."

* * *

We arrive at the dance studio. The stage is a little small and in need of being redone here and there, but overall, it's an okay looking place.

"Kris!" a voice calls. A woman, who I am predicting is Kerry walks up in dance pants and a long-sleeve pink shirt.

"Kerry, hi."

"Here, have a seat." she gestures to two fold-able chairs a few feet away. We walk over and sit down. She pulls up a chair and sits down. "Here's some water in case your thirty." We thank her and she turns to me. "And you must be Luke."

"Yeah, Luke Ross." I answer.

"So I see. Anyway, I saw a video online of you dancing and I loved it! You have some talent."

"Why thanks, I guess."

"I'm hoping that you will consider taking part in my show. Kris should have asked you about it."

"Yeah, she did."

"Oh good good. Sometimes she doesn't listen." Kris rolls her eyes. She opens a bottle of water and takes sip. "So is it a yes?"

"I guess, but, I was wondering what exactly I would be dancing."

"Oh yes, well, there is one song that I was going to do with a fellow teacher Linell, but after seeing you dance, I'm thinking you should do it."

"Oh, that's cool. What is it?" I take a sip of water.

"It's a duet. I was thinking you a Kris could do it together." Kris starts coughing.

"A duet? What type of duet?" she questions.

"A beautiful, romantic duet about the magic of Christmas." I spit out my water.

"What?" I ask.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I offend you or hurt your feelings? Because I just thought, since you are both young and brilliant dancers, I thought you could do it, but-"

"No no, it's just a little awkward, you know?"

"Not really."

"Well yeah, but-" I look at Kris. Her face is bright red. I guess she's just as embarrassed as I am. "Can we be excused for just a moment?" I ask.

"Sure." Kerry says. I grab Kris's wrist and drag her across the stage. When we're in private I turn to Kris.

"Did you know about this?" I ask, whispering.

"No no, of course not. I'm just as shocked as you are." she replies, whispering as well. "Look, I understand if you don't want to do it, but-"

"No, I want to do it, it's just-"

"Me?"

"No, not you. Well sort of. It's just kinda awkward."

"I know. I can understand that you're having doubts about this, but it would mean so much to Kerry. Sure it might be awkward, but I really don't want to let her down."

"I know, I know. I'm willing to do it. Are you?"

"Yes. Oh, thanks Luke. Trust me, you're a great dancer. I'm pretty sure no matter what you're dancing, you'll always be amazing."

"Really?" I ask, stepping closer to her.

"Yes really. You're great. And thanks for doing this. It means a lot."

"No prob." We head back. Kerry looks up at us. "Kerry, we'll do it."


	6. Chapter 6

Luke's POV

* * *

Today's Monday. On Sunday Kris and I went to Kerry's. Kerry said our theme was: Dancing at Night in the Sparkling Snow. Weird. She gave us our music and showed us a few steps we would be using. She also had us do some stupid trust exercises so we could trust one another for turns and dips and stuff. She asked me how much I could lift, and I answered honestly. She says that I may be lifting Kris, and that it's important to take the trust exercises seriously. You must always, fully trust your partner. I trust Kris. And I think she trusts me. I mean, we are friends.

Anyway, we choreographed a little bit of the dance yesterday, and Kerry wanted us to practice it during the week, preferably every day. So Kris came over, and we're working on it. Kerry also said to practice the dumb trust exercises as well, but we both decided that it was stupid.

"And this is where you finish the combo." Kris says. The routine is made of several combos, and we learned three yesterday. She's reminding me how to do the combo and where/how to end it.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I got it."

"Good." she restarts the music and we start from the beginning.

* * *

Kris's POV

* * *

Yesterday, I was kinda embarrassed when Kerry announced that Luke and I should do a romantic duet. I mean, who wouldn't be? Asking your guy friend to do a dance with you. But I was glad when he said he'd do it. Today when we rehearsed he asked me to help with all the combos. He needed a little refresher. He is extremely good at break-dancing and dancing in general, but I don't think he's ever done a real, choreographed duet before. After I finish reviewing it with him, we do it for real, well, real practice. I have to say, from someone who's never done something like this before, he's doing amazing. Is there any dancing he's not good at?

"Kris?" Luke asks.

"Yeah?"

"How many weeks do we have until the show?"

"Two." Yeah okay, I know what you're thinking. Cross Country is supposed to end in October. Well, this year there was a complication. And so we are running in December. Sure, it's a little cold, but it's still fun to run. And next week is the championships. After that, no more running. All dance rehearsal then. I really want to impress Kerry.

"Oh-"

"Oh what?"

"Do you think that we'll be ready in time?"

"Yes. You're a great dancer. Of course we'll be ready. We learned maybe half the dance yesterday. We'll have it down, don't worry."

"Okay." he replies. Why is Luke acting all weird? Usually when it comes to dancing he's the most competitive, non-doubtful person ever.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, totally."

"Okay..."

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

For the next two weeks Kris and I practice everyday. The Cross Country team got first place in the Championship. Kris finally got first, since Darla puked at the last second. There's a video of Kris crossing the finish line, and in the background you can see it all. It's funny, and kinda gross, but I still like to watch it over and over. It's two days until the show. We finished the dance last week, and now we just have to 'polish it up' as Kerry says. So Kris is here and we're working on it. I really enjoy working with Kris. Since we're kinda on the same level, it makes it easy to dance with her. She's good at this whole couples dance thing actually. I've never really seen her doing anything except for hip-hop, tap, and break-dancing, but she's actually really good at slow dancing. That's what makes enjoy working on this dance. And at first, I thought I wouldn't like it at all, but it's actually kinda fun. I'm glad I decided to this. But anyway, Kris and I are working hard on the dance.

"Ready?" she asks.

"Ready." This is the first time doing the entire thing all together. We usually do the beginning, or the middle, or the end separate, but Kerry says we need to start getting used to it. I press play. The music starts and we begin to dance. Everything's going great. We're getting extremely close to the end. Then this happens:

It was time for Kris to dip. I was prepared for it. Just as she did it, she slipped on something. Mrs. Kipling. But I caught her, our faces really close. And we just stood there, looking at each other, listening to the music in the background. After it ends, I blink and shake my head. I pull Kris up. What just happened?

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I guess." she looks down at the floor. Mrs. Kipling is just lying there, not caring at all. "I never thought I trip over a seven foot lizard."

"Well there's a first for everything."

"I guess so." We stare at each other again. Kris shakes her head. "We should run it again. This time, no lizards."

"Okay then, let's go."


	7. Chapter 7

Luke's POV

* * *

"Again!" Kerry yells. I lift Kris up yet again. We have been working on it for five minutes. And my arms are getting tired. There are gonna be sore tomorrow.

"Still just not right. Again!" she cries. Tonight is show night. Christmas Eve. It's one o'clock, and the show starts at seven. "Come on Luke, can you get your arms straighter?"

"I'm trying!" I grunt. "Lifting a girl eighteen times isn't as easy as it seems."

"Again!" And I lift Kris yet again. "Come on, again!" I lift her once more.

"Kerry, stop! Or he's gonna have nothing left for the show tonight. He may do the most pull ups in P.E., but he can't lift me forever!" Kris says.

"You're right. I'm sorry, you guys are great, I'm just a little nervous. This is my first, big show. I've done recitals for a few years now, but this will be the biggest show I've ever done."

"Kerry, the show will be great, stop worrying so much." Kris says. Kerry smiles at her.

"Okay. And if you don't mind, can we do it once more from the top?"

* * *

Half-an-hour till showtime. I have to wear a stupid, sparkly, lacy tux. I also had to put on light makeup (how embarrassing!) And even worse, I had to take a bath. Gross. Kris hasn't shown up yet. Kerry says she's still in hair and makeup. I check the clock on the wall. How long does it take for a girl to get ready? Sheesh!

"Luke?" I turn around. Holy crap. It's Kris. And she looks amazing. Not her usual, boyish look, but her hair is curly and flowing. I've never seen her with her hair down before. She wears a strapless, shiny, sparkly, lacy, white, short dress that's, uh, how do people say this, poofy at the bottom. She wears sparkly silver character heels, and white, transparent tights. She's wearing makeup, and I have never been more attracted to her. Well, except for the time she burped for nearly ten seconds. Now that was awesome.

" Kris?! You look, uh-great." I finally manage to answer.

"Really?" She walks closer, her silver heels clicking on the floor.

"Yes really."

"You look...amazing. I've never seen you so, you know, not totally Luke-ish." she sniffs the air. "Did you take a bath?" I laugh.

"Actually yes, I did."

"Whoa, this must be important for you. You never bathe."

"I know."

"Ugh, I hate this dress." she says. "And the fancy hair and makeup. It makes me feel...girly."

"But, I have to say, I hate the sparkly, fancy costumes too. And especially the makeup. But, you still look amazing."

"You really think that?"

"I really do." I step closer.

"And I think you look amazing too." she steps closer. And just like the other day, we're staring at each other.

"Okay people, curtain up in two minutes!" Kerry yells, pushing us apart. "Get in your places everyone. It's show time!"

"I'll see you on stage." I say.

"See you Ross."

* * *

Jessie's POV

* * *

The dance recital is tonight. Luke told us we didn't need to come, but I can't believe he thought that would work. Of course we were coming!

"Jessie!" Emma screams from upstairs. I run up the stairs to her. "I can't find my white sweater! I can't wear this outfit without it!" She shows me the outfit she's wearing.

"I think you look fine Emma."

"But the sweater completes the look! I can't go out wearing an un-completed outfit!"

"Fine fine, I'll help you look for it." We spend fifteen minutes looking for it. Finally, I find it in Section 5 of her closet.

"Oh, thanks Jessie! You're a fashion-life saver!" she exclaims. "Huh, I never thought I'd ever be saying those words." she thinks out loud.

"Rude much?" she just looks at me. "Anyway, we need to get going. The dance show starts in..." I check my watch. "Twenty minutes! Oh great! We're going to be late!" I start to panic. "RAVI! ZURI! COME ON! LET'S GO!" I run down the stairs and open the elevator. Ravi runs down.

"Jessie, why do we have to go to this show of dancing children?" he asks.

"Because." I answer. He shrugs and steps into the elevator. Zuri comes down the stairs.

"Jessie, do I have to go?" she asks.

"Yes Zuri. I know Luke would be very appreciative of that."

"Fine. But you owe me big time." she steps into the elevator. Emma comes downstairs on her phone, walking straight into the elevator.

"Okay, since everyone's here, let's go." I say, pressing the elevator button.

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

The fifteenth group is finishing up their dance. Kris and I are number 20. I'm sitting on a fold-able chair backstage. Sixteen.

This isn't my first duet, or group dance. This is my first romantic, choreographed dance, with one of my friends. I watch as eleven and twelve year olds dance to 'Christmas Rappin'. Actually pretty good. And Kindergartners dance to 'Marshmallow World' and two and three year olds dancing to 'Canon.' Finally, it's dance nineteen. I stand up and wipe my hands on my silky pants.

"Next up, Dancing at Night in the Sparkling Snow, preformed by my niece Kristin Mosley and Luke Ross." Kerry announces. Applause. I breathe deeply, wipe my hands again, and step out onto the stage. The applause dies down. The music starts, and Kris and I begin to dance.

* * *

Jessie's POV

* * *

"Next up, Dancing at Night in the Sparkling Snow, preformed by my niece Kristin Mosley and Luke Ross." Kerry announces to the crowd. I clap loudly as Luke comes on stage in a sparkly, silky, fancy tux, and Kris is almost unrecognizable. She actually looks like a girl. Well, I mean, she looked like a girl before, but she is really bringing out her girly side. The truth is, she's actually very pretty. The music starts and they begin to dance. They are really good. They actually look like they're falling in love. Luke lifts her up effortlessly. If only he would pick up his belongings like that. I mean, it's not that hard. The dance ends with Luke pulling Kris into a dip and she gives him a peck on the cheek. Then the lights go out. Applause. Lots of whooping. They were amazing. The theater lights come on and Kerry steps out onto the stage.

"Thank you everyone for coming. You have no idea how much this means to me and the dancers. Thank you again, and have a very Merry Christmas! B'bye now!" she exits off the stage.

"Come on kids, let's go. When we get back home we can celebrate!" I say.

"Will there be cookies and milk?" Zuri asks.

"Sure."

"And can we stay up past our bedtimes?"

"I don't know about that." She makes her 'face.' The 'face' that no one can say no to.

"Okay fine, but only by half-an-hour." she smiles. We walk out of the theater and head home.

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

Kris and I are dancing, and I think we're doing great. It's like we're totally on the same brainwave. We know exactly what to do and how to do it. I lift her up, my arms, amazingly, not dying, and we continue dancing. At the end though it's kind of the most awkward part.

Kerry wanted Kris to give me a kiss on the cheek at the end. We didn't rehearse since Kerry said it was unnecessary. _You'll be fine._ _It's just a quick kiss. It means nothing. We shouldn't have to practice it. You are mature enough to do this, right? Good._ Still, it's awkward. Knowing that it's coming makes it weird.

But I have to admit, this dance is actually really nice. I enjoy dancing with Kris. And I think it's brought us closer together. And when Kris came out earlier, I was speechless. She is really pretty when she tries to be.

I twirl her around. We're almost to the end. We keep on dancing. Finally, I dip her and look at her. She leans up and kisses me on the cheek, quickly. I smile and the lights go out. I pull Kris up and we walk off stage.

"Thank you everyone for coming. You have no idea how much this means to me and the dancers. Thank you again, and have a very Merry Christmas! B'bye now!" Kerry says to the crowd. More applause. She walks over to us. "You two were amazing! It looked like you two were actually falling in love! I could feel it. Oh!" she pulls us into a hug. She let's go and wipes away a tear. "I am so proud of you." she gives us another hug and walks away to help the other dancers. Kris turns to face me.

"So Ross, you made Kerry super happy. I haven't seen her joy-cry before. I guess you really are a good dancer."

"Of course I am. Hey, you want to come over and have some cookies or something? Bertram isn't home-making them this year, so they will be good!"

"You mean, right now?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Let me check with my mom." She runs to her bag and pulls out her phone. "Hey mom! Yeah, the show was great! No, I understand why you couldn't make it! It's no big deal! I have a question, can I go over to the Ross's? Luke invited me to have a snack. Uh, ten maybe? Okay. Okay. Thanks mom, bye." she turns to me. "My mom said okay. I have to be home before ten though."

"Okay then, let's get out of these fancy clothes and get going."

* * *

Kris and I walk back to the hotel. A few people are in the lobby. Tony is working at the desk. I walk over to the elevator and press the UP button. After a few seconds the doors open and we step in. I press the PENTHOUSE button and the doors close. We start to rise.

"I really wanted to say how much Kerry appreciated your help with the dance. She knew that it might be weird for the whole, you know, romance thing, but she was really happy when you agreed to help her." Kris says.

"It felt a little awkward at first, but I got over it. Besides, it was actually kind of fun."

"Really?"

"Really. And, I kind of liked dancing with you." I say quietly.

"You, Luke Ross, enjoyed sharing the spotlight? Not doing your famous moves? Not being the so-called best? Doesn't sound like you."

"Well, like I said, you don't know me." I step closer to her. "You don't know the real me."

"Maybe I'd like to." she steps closer. We are standing really close. I lean forward, my forehead touching hers.

"Maybe you will." And I touch my lips to hers. Her hands go onto my shoulders, grabbing them. I put my hands on her back. I guess she nearly fell over. I do tend to have that affect on women. I don't even notice when we stop and the elevator doors open. Kris and I continue kissing. They shut again and we keep on kissing.

Best Christmas Eve Ever.

* * *

Jessie's POV

* * *

We get home and I tell the kids to wait in the living room. I wanted to surprise Luke by saying how great of a performance he did as soon as he walks in. In about fifteen minutes, the elevator dings and the doors open.

"C-" I stop before the word even starts. I look into the elevator. Luke's there alright, but so is another person. The last thing I expected to see.

Luke was KISSING Kris.


	8. Chapter 8

Luke's POV

* * *

I eventually break the kiss. Kris opens her eyes and stares at me.

"Wow." she says. "That was, uh, nice."

"Yeah." I say. I look into her blue eyes. "Well, uh, Jessie's probably waiting for us." I click DOOR OPEN and we walk into the living room. Jessie meets us.

"Hey Luke, what's going on?" she asks weirdly.

"Uh, I don't know. Why?"

"Oh, uh, no reason." she says. "Why don't you come into the kitchen for some cookies?" Why is she acting so weird? She's hiding something, but what?

* * *

Jessie's POV

* * *

Luke eventually comes out of the elevator. I still can't believe what I just saw. I lead him and Kris into the kitchen and we sit down at the table. The rest of the kids are already sitting.

"Man, these cookies are actually good! Thanks for not baking Bertram!" Zuri calls. Emma, Ravi, Luke, and Kris nod.

"Oh you're welcome. It gave me forty-five more minutes for my daily afternoon nap." Bertram replies.

"Luke, my dear brother, that was an excellent performance you gave tonight with your colleague here." Ravi say, gesturing to Kris. "I must say, it really looked like the two of you were falling in love." I flinch at that statement. Because, I think there are.

"Thanks Ravi." Luke says.

"You're welcome."A conversation on the performances that the dance company did tonight went on. At ten-thirty, I send Ravi, Emma, and Zuri upstairs. Luke is talking to Kris outside, and I don't want to embarrass him by saying: 'Oh Luke! It's past your bedtime! Come inside and get dressed in your jammies!' I mean, what kid would want that? I go upstairs to make sure all of the other kids are getting ready for bed.

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

I close the terrace door behind us. I walk over to the balcony where Kris is standing, looking down at the streets. I stand next to her and she looks up.

"Luke, I hate to back to this, but in the elevator, I really wasn't expecting that." She looks down.

"I know."

"And you are just, you were just, wow."

"I do tend to have that affect on the ladies." She laughs. Then looks at me again.

"Why did you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you kiss me?" She looks away, as if embarrassed that she asked the question.

"Because," I say, taking a step closer to her. "I wanted to." She looks at me.

"What?"

"And that's why," I say, grabbing her hand, "I'm gonna do it again." I lean down and kiss her again. She kisses back earlier this time, probably because I gave her the warning. I stop and pull back. She laughs.

"Ross, you have a problem."

"What?"

"You're too frikin' hot to say no to." I laugh and look at my watch. Ten o'clock. "I think its time for you to go home."

"Really? What time is it?"

"Ten."

"Oh yeah." she says. "I really should get going." She opens the terrace door and walks into the living room, grabbing her bag from beside the elevator. She steps in and presses the LOBBY button.

"Bye Kris." I say.

"See you later Ross." The elevator doors close.

"Well, looks like somebody's been having some fun." Bertram says from behind me. I turn around fast.

"What do you mean? Kris and I were just talking."

"Yeah, and by talking you mean making out on the terrace." I roll my eyes.

"Okay, so we were kissing, what's the big deal?"

"Oh nothing. But oh, it's funny."

"What's funny?"

"You're going to lectured later."

"By who, Jessie? She doesn't even know."

"That's what you think. Do you remember that elevator doors open automatically when you reach a floor?" My eyes widen.

"Uh, yeah, why?" I my voice sounds weird. It does that sometimes when I'm trying to hide something.

"Well, Jessie was waiting by the elevator to surprise you by, well, basically congratulating you as soon as you walked in. But, the doors opened and you were a little bit too busy to notice."

"Crap."

"Mm-hmm." he says. "And Jessie says that you aren't allowed to date or do stuff unless your grades go up so-" he stops mid sentence. "Somebody's in trouble."

* * *

Jessie lectured me after everyone else was supposedly sleeping.

"Luke, I told you that you aren't allowed to date yet. You're grades are bad and the one time you asked a girl out on a date, her ex embarrassed you. And frankly, you aren't prepared for a relationship right now. So next time you see Kris, I want you to tell her there's nothing between you and that you are just friends. Only friends. You need to apologize to her. It might have been embarrassing to her or maybe uncomfortable to her. Got it?"

"But Jessie," I say, "Kris and I are just friends-"

"Uh, just friends don't make out for five minutes in an elevator."

"Okay, so we kissed, BIG DEAL. It doesn't matter-"

"Oh yes it does."

"And besides, this doesn't concern you." I say, getting rather annoyed. "It's my life, my relationship. It doesn't matter what you do or don't think. It's what I think."

"But Luke-"

"No, enough with the buts. You need to mind your own business and stay out of my personal life."

"Luke I'm only trying to help-"

"Well, I don't need _your_ help. What would you know about relationships anyway? All of your boyfriends dumped you or something. And you couldn't even get married when you wanted to."

"That's because I love you kids and I wanted to stay with you."

"Whatever. Still, you couldn't make any of your relationships work. So why in the world would I listen to you?"

"Luke," she says sternly, "I don't want you to get hurt, or get in too deep. Things happen. People change. I'm trying to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me. I'm old enough to take care of myself. I don't need my nanny to tell me what to do."

"Luke I-"

"Goodnight Jessie." I say, standing up from the table and walking up the stairs.

"Luke, I'm not done yet-"

"I said goodnight." I close my door and collapse on my bed. Jessie can just be so annoying sometimes. She needs to mind her own business and stay out of my life.


	9. Chapter 9

Luke's POV

* * *

I wake up the next morning, completely oblivious that it's Christmas, until Ravi bursts into my room, shouting things like:

"Merry Christmas, brother!" and singing (badly) some Christmas carols. "On the first day of Christmas my, uh, poo la gave to me, a-wait" he stops, mid-screwing-up-the-Christmas-Carol, "Why is it called the Twelve Days of Christmas? Isn't Christmas only one day? December 25? Does Christmas start a few days earlier, but we only acknowledge the 25, or does it start on December 25 and go for twelve days? Or-"

"Ravi, shut up!" I say, stopping the boy from ranting on forever. "Just, go downstairs and do something, besides bugging me." Ravi hangs his head and walks out of my room. When he's gone, I climb out of bed, throw on some regular clothes, and head downstairs. Bertram is in the kitchen, making something for breakfast, which I hope aren't his infamous green and red pancakes, which are terrible, look terrible, and are just overall bad. I walk into the kitchen and sure enough, a plate of the nasty things sits on the table. I groan. "Bertram, I told you that I hate those, whatever you want to call them, because they are definitely not pancakes."

"Oh, I know you hate them, so that's why I made them."

"Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"Gone like my hair." He smiles at me. "Now, go sit down and eat your delicious pancakes with your family." I groan again, plopping down in a chair. I grab a pancake off the plate and dunk it in a ton of syrup, hoping to eliminate the taste. It doesn't work, but I eat two of them anyway. I finish and leave the kitchen, heading out to the living room, where our huge tree is, covered in glittery, lots of glittery things (Zuri and Emma), stuffed reptiles (Need I explain?) a few homemade ornaments (Jessie) and a bunch of junk. Underneath the tree is a mountain of presents and Zuri, who was looking at all the tags, counting her presents, and keeping track to make sure she had the most.

"Ah..." she sighs, "25 presents for me." I roll my eyes as the rest of the family comes in, Jessie's phone at the ready to take pics as we open our gifts.

"Okay," she says, "Now, everyone find a present for them and-"

"Yahoo!" Zuri screams, ripping open a present before Jessie can finish, and she just keeps going, opening present after present after present, not stopping, and I know she won't stop until she gets to the end. The rest of us open presents too, annoying Jessie so much that she yells audibly about how this never happened back in Texas. Once we finish opening all of our presents, we tell Bertram to bring our things up to our room, and to clean up the place. It's so fun bossing around Bertram, and he has to do it, since we're video chatting Mom and Dad, and he always works when they're around in a computer screen or in real life. I can't believe my parents haven't found out how lazy our butler is yet.

"Hey!" Mom and Dad call through the video screen.

"Hey!" We answer back.

"How's your Christmas?" Mom asks, "Did you enjoy your presents?"

"Did I ever! You got me all of the new, fashionable things I wanted!" Emma exclaims.

"And you got me everything I wanted!" Zuri cries.

"Me too." I say.

"Thank you for the presents, they were very generous." Ravi thanks them. Jessie squeezes into the shot. Emma and Zuri scoot away from her.

"And did you know that Luke was in a dance recital last night?" she says. My Mom's eyes brighten up.

"Oh, really? How was it? How was he?"

"Amazing. I'm sorry you guys missed it. It was a beautiful duet."

"A duet?" My mother asks, surprised. "Like, an upbeat duet or-"

"A beautiful, slow duet with his friend Kris."

"Kris? You danced with a guy?" she asks, very confused. Jessie, immediately realizing her lack of explanation, jumps right back in.

"Oh no no no. Kris is short for Kristin, Kristin Mosley, one of Luke's friends, who is a girl."

"I see...was it a romantic duet?" she asks, looking down at her phone.

"Uh yeah, why?"

"Was it perhaps, by chance, The Kerry M. Dance Studio?"

"Uh, yes." I answer, confused on how she knows this.

"'Dancing at Night in the Sparkling Snow.' Was that the name of it?" I nod. "OMG! I can't believe it!" she cries. "I never seen you look so clean and well-dressed Luke!"

"What?" I ask, completely confused. She holds her phone up to the screen and I see it. An article on the Kerry M. Dance Studio, with a picture of Kris and me during mid-lift.

"It's on the entertainment page. Apparently a reporter was there last night and wrote about the show, taking pictures and all of the articles about the recital have good reviews. The Kerry M. Dance Studio will probably become a big thing now."

"Whoa." I whisper.

"I know right? My little boy is famous!"

"Not famous mom."

"Oh whatever! I'm so proud of you! I can't wait until we get home for New Years! Then I can finally meet this Kris girl." My dad comes back onto the screen, pointing at his phone. "Oh, sorry, time to go! Bye! I love you all!"

"We love you all." Dad adds. "Bye!"

"Bye!" All of us in the penthouse say in unison. The screen goes blank and we shut the laptop. Jessie stands up in front of me.

"Well, isn't that amazing? A reporter came to the show and wrote articles and snapped pictures and-I just can't believe it! You really helped someone for the better without destroying something! Wow!" she hugs me tightly and lets go of me. I go upstairs to my room and throw on a new pair of shoes that I just got, to see how they fit. They fit nicely and I go back downstairs.

* * *

The rest of the day goes as normal. Bertram becomes his usual, lazy self again since the video chat is over. He and Jessie open their gifts. Jessie is thankful for all of her gifts, no matter how pathetic they are, and Bertram, well, is grumpy Bertram.

"Another spoon? Gee, thanks guys." he says sarcastically. "Now I know where all of the spoons went."

* * *

Emma gives us a Christmas fashion show, first showing us all the outfits she got today, then Zuri comes out showing us her outfits, and it just goes on and on. I keep checking the time. 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 57 minutes, an hour, an hour and 5 minutes, on and on, until after an hour and a half of torture, they finally announce that they were finished.

"Finally!" I yell, jumping up from the couch. Jessie made me sit through the whole thing, saying I'd enjoy it. well, I didn't.

At around eight, the rest of the family is in the movie room watching Christmas Movies. Jessie said I didn't have to watch, which was fine by me. A little bit of freedom. Yes! I'm just walking past the elevator when it opens. I turn and see Kris standing in the elevator. She steps into the penthouse and I walk over to her.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey." she says back. We look at each other for a few seconds before she speaks again. "I wanted to say thanks again for helping out with the dance."

"Oh, no problem. Did you see the articles and pictures?"

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Oh!" she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a disc. "Kerry wanted me to give you this. It's a recording of the show." I take it from her.

"Oh cool. You wanna watch it? See how the dance went?"

"Sure." We walk over to the couch and I place the disc into the computer. The recital starts. We watch it, making comments on things we liked, and who we thought was the best dancer in each class.

"The girl on stage right is definitely the best at this dance." I say, pointing to a girl in a green and red costume. Kris nods.

"Yeah. She's good at that style of dance. Everyone has the style their best at." Applause sounds from the laptop. Kerry steps out on stage and makes her speech about our number.

"Here we go." I say, watching the screen. The lights come up and I'm on stage. The music starts and Kris leaps on the stage, beginning the dance, her hair flowing and outfit shining. "You look beautiful." I say before I realize I'm even saying it.

"Oh, really? Thanks. You look great too." She says awkwardly. We turn our focus back to the screen. It was coming up for the lift and fancy partner work at the end. I watch as I lift Kris up into the air and spin her around me. I watch as we continue to dance and finally it's the end. I dip her and she pecks me on the cheek. The lights fade out and it's over.

"Wow." Kris says, "That was really good, actually."

"Yeah." I look at her, taking in her face. She turns and looks at me.

"Are you okay Ross?" she asks, coming closer.

"Yeah, it's just-I don't know." She comes closer.

"You know, we kinda didn't get to finish what we started last night." I look at her.

"What? Finish wha-" I'm cut off by Kris kissing me. She ends it quickly. "Oh yeah, right." We're about to kiss again but I stop. "C'mon." I pull her onto her feet and bring her outside to the terrace. "Just in case they finish their movie early." She smiles and I kiss her, pulling her close. She grabs my shoulders like she did in the elevator, pulling us closer. We break and her phone dings. She checks it.

"Sorry Ross, my mom's waiting." We walk inside. I hand her her bag and walk her to elevator. "See ya later Ross."

"See ya Kris." She pecks my lips and steps into the elevator. The doors close and I turn around, leaning up against the wall, smiling.

Yep.

Christmas Rocks.

* * *

Kris's POV

* * *

I enter the lobby and find my mom. We leave and head out. We walk down to the subway and hop on the train home.

"So," she asks, "how was your visit? Did you watch the recital?"

"Yeah, it was good. He seemed to like it."

"Well, that's good. Anything else happen?"

"Eh, not really." I lie. My mom would flip if she knew I was making out with my rich, helpful, competitive friend. My mom seems satisfied with my answer and looks away from me. I think about Luke, how much he's helped me. Of course, we're competitors, and our competitive sides usually come out first. But after I got to know him, I found out two things about Ross:

1.) He's a really good friend.

2.) He's an awesome kisser.

Both matter, and I probably could've of figured out Number One after a while.

But number 2, man, That is pretty cool to know. And, I think I'm the only close friend he as that knows it.

But gosh, Ross is one good kisser. I couldn't wait until he finished his sentence to kiss him.

He's that kissable.

But that's my friend Ross for you: a good friend/ competitor and a great kisser.

I love my life right now. And one thing for sure:

This Christmas was Awesome.


	10. Chapter 10

Luke's POV

* * *

A few weeks after Christmas...

* * *

I walk through the halls of the all too-familiar school. Christmas break feels like it was so long ago, when it's only been a few weeks. I hate school. I don't know why even have to come here and learn. I mean, who needs to know addition or reading a wall clock. When are we ever going to use any of this knowledge in life? I keep on walking in the halls and Kris runs up to me and grabs my arm.

"Hey Kris-" I start, but she yanks me forward, trailing me behind her and she leads me down the hall.

"You've got to see this." She says, stopping me in front of a bulletin board where a bunch of posters are hung. She points at one of the flyers. I make a face.

"You want to join the chess club?" I ask curiously. "That doesn't really seem like your thing, but okay-"

"What? No!" She exclaims. "The poster next to it Stupid!" I look beside the chess club poster. This poster looks much cooler.

"Dance C-o-om-mp-pe-e-ee-ti-tion..." I try to sound out the big word. Kris rolls her eyes at me.

"It's A Dance Competition!" She explains, obviously giving up on my reading. "It's in two weeks, and we should totally sign up for it! Think of it Ross! We could partner up again like the Christmas show and win for sure!"

"That'd be awesome! We should totally do it."

"Great!" She pulls a pen out of from behind her ear and signs her name. She hands the pen to me and I write down my name right under hers. She smiles and sticks the pen in her back pocket where her phone is sticking out. "Thanks Ross." She says playfully punching me in the arm. "I'll, uh, see you around." She turns around and walks off towards her next class, leaving me by the bulletin board, looking at the flyer. I look up the competition on my phone. Apparently this competition is the whole school district, which means that all the local schools will be competing. That also means that Sam will be competing. His name is on the list online. Great. Kris is not going be happy about this.

* * *

After school, Kris comes over to my house to talk about the competition.

"I was thinking we should do a hip hop routine. We could do all sorts of cool tricks and flips and duo moves that will really make our performance over the top." She suggests.

"That sounds perfect!"

"Great. We should start rehearsing right away if we want to win at school, then the county, then the city, and then finally nationals! This gonna be great."

"Then let's get started right now." I say. She turns on the stereo and starts to skim through the playlists of songs until she finds one that we both agree on. And we start to try out some moves to the music, coming up with combos and tricks to fit the music. We work on it for hours until we have a rough idea of what to do. She quickly jots down the routine on a notepad and we rehearse it again. Then we take a break. Bertram had reluctantly brought us out some glasses of water and I pick them up, handing one of the cups to Kris.

"Thanks." she says, sitting down on the fire place ledge across from me while I sit on the sofa. I watch her as she takes a sip from her glass. Her eyes catch mine and she puts her glass down. "What?" she asks looking at me, tugging her jacket tighter around her.

"Nothing, I was just-" I stop talking and Kris rolls her eyes.

"So, I think the dance is going pretty well so far." She begins the conversation again. "We've made a lot of progress for just one rehearsal."

"Yeah. We work really well together." I reply, setting down my glass. "Let's get started again." She stands up and we start rehearsing again.

* * *

A few days later...

* * *

Kris and I have been working on this dance for nearly a whole week now, and, if I may brag, the dance is almost perfect. We've been rehearsing for about two hours now, and we are about halfway through our dance. We start to do a combo. As soon as we're about to finish the move, I slip on Mrs. Kipling's tail and fall forward, crashing into Kris, who just so happens to be standing in front of the fireplace ledge. I groan since I hit my leg on the ledge of the fireplace again. Kris laughs and I look at her.

"Wow." she gasps between laughs. "Serious Deja Vu moment."

"This is just like the first time you came over to my house." I say.

"Yeah, except for one thing." She replies. I look at her puzzled, wondering what she means.

"What?"

"This." Suddenly she flips us over so she is the one on top of me. "Now who's the one being squished on the bottom?" She teases, pushing her arms down hard on my wrists, pining me to the ledge.

"Oh, you're asking for it now." I use my strength and speed to wrap my arms around her tightly, pining her arms at her sides, and roll over so now I'm on top. She struggles to get free from my grip, but I'm very muscular, and all of those lifts that Kerry made me do with Kris for the Christmas show only added to it. Sometimes a little pain is all worth it in the end. I can lift up Kris easily now, so pinning her down is no sweat. "Now who's on top?" I smile a cheeky smile down at her face. She looks rather annoyed that I'm winning at this whole 'pin me down' competition.

"Ugh! When did you get so strong? You've never been able to pin me so easily before."

"You can thank Kerri for all those lifting practices. And I've kinda been working out." I smile at her defeated face.

"Okay fine. Whatever. Just get off of me." she demands, squirming around in my grip.

"I don't know. I don't think I will. I kinda like it up here." I smirk at her. She rolls her eyes.

"Ross, get off."

"Umm...no."

"Please get off of me. You are squishing me." she complains.

"And What if I don't?" I lean my face closer. "What are you gonna do about it?"

* * *

Kris's POV

* * *

I struggle to get out of Luke's grip. Good grief. All that lifting has done him good. He's so strong now, I can't believe I can't even get out of this simple hold. His face is inches from mine.

"Ross-" He leans in closer.

"Whatcha gonna do about this?"

"Luke, I-" His lips meet mine before I can finish. Great. Now I forget why I'm mad at him. Stupid Ross! His grip slackens just enough for me to get free and I flip him over onto his back.

"Wha-?" he starts but never finishes since I crash my lips onto his. After a few seconds, I break the kiss and look down at him. I smirk.

"That's what I'm gonna do about it."

"Oh you-" Luke lunges forward, pushing me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I struggle to get in air as he kisses me again. All of a sudden, I hear the elevator ding and the doors open. We quickly break apart and Luke rolls away from me and stands up. "Nice move Kris." he covers, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, "But what about this one?" He starts to go down into his favorite move when Jessie marches over next to him.

"Luke," she says, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean? We were just dancing." he lies straight to her face. I laugh a little on the inside at that one.

"Oh yeah, sure, whatever." Jessie snaps, leaving us alone. Ross offers me his hand and I stand up.

"Well," he says, "I guess we'd better get back to practicing." He smiles at me. I touch my hand to his cheek.

"The dancing, Ross, only the dancing." I tease.

"Sure. That works to." He flashes his cheeky smile at me. Oh good grief Kris, get a grip girl! I start the music back up again and we start to practice our dance again.

* * *

Luke's POV

* * *

Kris and I passed Stage One of the competition, which was kinda like tryouts. There are only so many spots in this competition. Both of us make it. Surprisingly, we are the only pair dancing. Well, it's not that surprising. Kris and I are amazing. No one would stand against the two of us together.

Kris and I are at the auditorium at some other school that I didn't bother to learn the name of. We're signing in for the first round of the dance competition. Before the actual competition begins, all of the contestants are called out onto the stage to meet the judges and the host so they can explain the rules, policies, procedures, etc. of what's going on today. Kris and I walk onto the stage together, looking at the competition.

"Ross, look over there. That little redhead boy obviously just got in because of his age. By the looks of him, the only dance he's good at is ballet. Just look at how he arches his feet and back when he walks." Kris points out to me.

"I know! And look over there. That girl only got in because of her looks. She can probably can only kick to about her chest and can only dance in character shoes and to classical marches." I say and Kris nods in agreement.

As dancers, and as good ones, Kris and I are able to tell what people are good at based on their walk, positioning, attitude, esteem, dress, etc. And by looking at our competitors, there's very little competition. This is gonna be a piece of cake. As soon as I have this thought, Sam walks in, checking out his competition and laughing at them. He sees Kris and me and saunters over to us, a snobby grin on his face.

"Well well well, looky here. If it isn't little Kristin Mosley and her pathetic friend-Luke, was it?" Kris clenches her fist and tries to step forward towards Sam, but I step in front of her.

"Yeah, and you're that loser who lost to some amazing dancer in the park a few weeks ago. Who was that great dancer again? Oh right, ME."I get in his face. He glares at me. Kris steps between us, pushing us apart.

"Guys, break it up. If we get caught fighting, we could get disqualified. Luke, let's go." She walks away. I start to follow her, slowly turning my head away from Sam. Man I hate him. Kris takes my wrist and leads me a seat in the auditorium. The judges, while I was glaring at Sam, had come in and asked all the contestants to sit in the house. A man, maybe in his late twenties, stands in the middle of the stage, two females, who look about the same age as him, are standing next to him. The man clears his throat.

"Hello dancers, and welcome to the competition. I am Mr. Scott, and this is Ms. Ella and Ms. Linda. We are the judges of the competition and we want to congratulate all of you. You all are winners since you made it here, but the slate has been wiped clean. From this point on, it doesn't matter that you got first or second, you are all on the same rank now. Rank 0. No one here is automatically gonna win. You gotta work for it. The schedule for the contest tomorrow will be on the judges' table. Wait for us to get seated then make a line in front of our desk, and we will hand out the schedule and dressing room assignments." Mr. Scott and the other judges make their way to the table and sit down. A bunch of the littler kids rush up to be first in line. Kris and I make our way to the table, and we end up being last in line. After waiting about ten minutes, we finally reach the desk. Ms. Ella smiles at me and hands me a schedule.

"And who might you be?" she asks pleasantly.

"Luke Ross. And this is my partner Kris."

"Oh, you're the duet." she sounds sad when she says this.

"Oh, is there something wrong?" I ask.

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but-" she starts, but Mr. Scott interrupts her, and she looks relieved that he did.

"It's just that duets aren't allowed." He puts bluntly. I feel a pit drop in my stomach.

"What?" I croak.

"Pairs are against the rules. I'm sorry."

"So, you're saying that we have to dance alone? We have one day to make up a solo for ourselves? How is that fair?" Kris interjects, obviously pissed off at the judges.

"Yes. We're sorry, but there's nothing we can do about. From this point on, you're no longer partners, you're competitors." Kris and I look at each other for a second before she turns to the judges table. They hand her a schedule and dressing room assignment.

"Thank you." she says, before turning away and walking up the stairs to the stage so she can get backstage. I follow her and we stop behind the backstage curtain. She turns to face me.

"What are you doing Ross?" she asks.

"Following you out." I say. Awkward silence. "Look Kris, I'm sorry about this."

"About what? The fact we can't do a duet? Don't be, it's not your fault." She turns and starts to walk before I grab her wrist and turn her around. I lean in to kiss her but she puts her hand on my chest and pushes me away. I look at her questioningly.

"Look," she says, flustered, "we're competitors, opponents now. We, we can't keep doing this. We need to keep this professional." she states. I feel like someone just punched me in the gut.

"What?" I ask dumbfounded.

"We have to. It's the only way. We have to be able to focus, and if we're seeing each other, it's like cheating, and I don't want to use anything against you, and I know you don't want to do that to me." I stare at her face. Her face shows no emotion. I can't believe she's doing this. She turns to walk away.

"Kris, I-" I start but she turns around and holds a hand out to stop me from talking.

"Don't make this harder than it already is." Her face is already contorting into something sad. I can't stand to see her like this.

"Kris-"

"Don't." she commands, her voice cracking. With that, she turns away and runs down the dark hallway and out the door. I stand there, letting this sink in. I feel my eyes start to swell up with tears, but I brush them aside, telling myself to stay strong.

 _It's a competition. It's just gonna have to be this way. Don't get upset over her. She's the enemy now._ I take a deep breath, hold my head high, and start to walk home.

* * *

Jessie is waiting in the kitchen, just as perky as ever. I dump my junk on the kitchen table and plop down into a seat.

"Hey Luke, how'd it go?" she inquires, smiling at me. I grunt at her. "Luke, is something wrong?" I groan.

"Why don't you take a frikin' look yourself!" I snap, standing up and throwing my papers at her, sending them flying everywhere. She picks them up and starts to shuffle through them. She finally lands on the right sheet and covers her mouth with her hand. I stand up and go over to the fridge to get a drink.

"Oh my gosh Luke. I had no idea. Why would they do this to you two?"

"I don't know! And now Kris doesn't want to see me anymore, because she says we need to keep this 'professional.' We can't hang out anymore."

"Oh Luke, I'm so sorry." Jessie comes over and places her hands on my shoulders. "But, maybe it's for the best." I jerk at this comment, pushing her hands off of me, and standing up.

"What?" I ask loudly. "For the best? What do you mean 'for the best?' What are trying to say Jessie?" I feel anger rising in me.

"I'm saying that I know you and Kris were, uh, you know, close, but eventually, I knew one of you was gonna gt hurt in the end. It''s how it always works. Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, we know that." I reply smartly, earning a look from Jessie. "But that's with your lame-o love life. Mine was different. The only reason was because we couldn't dance together."

"Keep telling yourself that, and it will slightly lessen the pain." Jessie says.

"Forget it! You know, you are the worst nanny ever. Instead of helping me, all you do is criticize me and judge me and compare me to my siblings! Screw you Jessie!" I shout, running up the back stairs in the kitchen.

"Luke! Luke! Get back down here this instant-" I slam my bedroom door, muffling her demands.

Stupid Jessie. She doesn't know anything about relationships. She can't help me.

She never tries to help or support me. All she ever says is: "Why can't you be more like Ravi?" "Or Emma?" "Or Zuri?"

I'll figure this out myself. I can handle this. Kris means nothing to me. We're opponents now. Enemies. And one thing's for sure.

 **Kristin Mosley is going** _ **down**._


	11. Chapter 11

Luke's POV

* * *

After my fight with Jessie, I get started on my solo for tomorrow right away. I scribble down moves and notes on a notepad. I work on it for hours. I end up being so tired that I can't hear the beat to the music. It's midnight when Jessie starts banging on my door, telling to keep it down. At about one o'clock I finish the choreography. I run all the way through it a couple of times, I feel confident in it.

Apparently I passed out on my bed. I wake up to the sun shining in my face through my window. I was still in my clothes, sneakers, and my speakers were flashing red, meaning the battery was dead. I sit and stretch out, yawning in the process. I check the time on the clock and jerk awake. It was nearly noon, and the report time for the contest is one. I quickly change my clothes and shoes, grab my phone and something to eat. I then grab my costume/performance bag and go down the elevator, running straight to the theater. I reach the theater with a few minutes to spare. I run back stage to my dressing room, drop off my things, and run back onto the stage as Mr. Scott begins to speak.

"So today, dancers, is the contest. Some of you will go home, unfortunately, and others will continue on to the next level. I just wanted to congratulate you all for making it here today. In just a few hours, the contest will start, and tons of people will be watching you from the audience. There will be helpers backstage who will give you a few heads up on when you're turn is coming up, and just if you need assistance. Come check in with us at our table then go to your dressing rooms and get prepared for the show. Places will be at 2:45. Good Luck to all of you." The judges take their seats and we line up signal file to get checked in. Kris just happens to get in front of me by gently pushing me back to make room for her in line. I clear my throat.

"Uh, Kris?" She turns around to face me, her arms crossed.

"Yes Ross? Is there a problem?" she asks, batting her eyelashes at me. I so want to be mad at her right now, but I just can't. Why do I like her so much?

Focus Luke, she's a competitor. Not a friend.

"Yeah, there's a problem. You cut in line in front of me."

"Oh, what are you? Five?" she mocks me, making a pout face. Gosh, that face is so cute on her.

Stop it Luke. Remember, she's trying to beat you.

But that's what makes her so attractive.

Focus Luke, FOCUS!

I shake my head. "I think the five year old would be the one who cuts in line. Ever heard of patience?" She sticks her tongue out at me. "Oh, real mature Kris!" I cry as we reach the table. The judges give us a questioning look before looking down at the clipboard.

"Name?" One of them asks.

"Kris Mosley." Kris answers. They check her off.

"Next!"

"Luke Ross." They check me off. I head backstage where a few attendants put a tiny bit of stage makeup on me so I don't look like a ghost and I get changed into my costume, which is really just a t-shirt, vest, jeans and high tops. By the time I'm done it's time to go backstage. The show starts. Only a couple of people are actually good and entertaining, but most aren't. Kris is right before me. She's wearing a low side ponytail with a hat covering most of her hair and head, a t-shirt, jean vest, jeans with holes at the knees, and a pair of old, gray converse. She heads out on stage when it's the blackout after some little kid's lame tap number.

"Next up: Kristin Mosley performing a hip hop and jazz routine." The announcer announces. Dang it. Same category as me, and she is good at it. The lights come up and she begins to dance. Man, she's doing really well. She does great moves, some awesome tricks, a few classic moves, a ton of stuff. Her routine is _almost_ as good as mine. She comes off stage at the end of her routine and the lights black out. She reaches back stage and looks straight at me.

"I hope you're ready to lose." she whispers to me.

"To who? You? Pfft...Simon's tap routine was better than yours." Leaving Kris with a narrowed eyes, I head out on stage as the announcer announces my name and my routine. I take my starting pose and the lights come up and my music begins to play. I dance my heart out, and at the end of the routine, I get thunderous applause. I head off stage to see Kris waiting in the wings. I walk straight up to her, my face close to hers. "So how does it feel to lose?"

"Why don't you tell me?" she says, her eyes glaring into mine. "Cuz you're definitely gonna lose to me." My eyes narrow.

"You wanna bet?"

"Sure."

"Fine. Loser has to kiss the winner's feet, and they have to admit that the winner is the best dancer, and that they will NEVER be as good as them. Deal?"

"Deal. Oh, and by the way, I just washed these shoes. Try not to get your spit all of over them." She smirks at me and walks away. And, of course, I have no good comeback. Dang it Ross!

* * *

The show is over, and it's time to see who won, and who's going home. A few little kids get voted off immediately, especially the little kids who did easy, boring, classic kid routines. Like Simon. Simon was, like, the first one voted off. I mean, come on! Tap kid? REALLY?!

The moves into the little kids' hip hop and jazz routines. Then to the next age group, and finally, the teenage category. One girl on pointe makes it, as well as a few others doing different routines. Finally, they get to the hip hop and jazz category.

"In third place, we have Amada Bling!" Applause. Poor Amada. Almost made it. The big moment has come. The three best dancers in this area are Kris, Sam, and me. There are only two spot left. I so don't want to lose to Sam. He's so annoying, and I CAN'T lose to Kris. I just can't.

"And in first place-" The announcer opens the envelope. "Why, I can't believe it! It seems that we have a three-way tie for first place!" Are frikin' kidding me? A 3 way tie? What the hell? "Congratulations to Luke Ross, Kris Mosley, and Sam-" Of course, OF COURSE! This is so dumb.

After the ceremony, we head backstage. Kris walks up to me.

"So I guess we have to wait until next week to find out that I'm the real champion?" she teases.

"Nope. We already know the truth: That I'm 100% better than you." She glares at me.

"Oh yeah Ross?"

"Yeah!"

"There is no way you are better than me. I am the best dancer in New York, and I don't need to prove it to you."

"Don't need to, or too scared to?" I smirk. She grabs me by the collar so my face is level with hers.

"Listen up Ross. I am the best. There's nothing you can do about it. Try all you want, but in the end, we both know I'm right." I glare at her for a few seconds.

"Uh, I don't think so."

"Uh, you know so."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"Prove it." She gets really mad and pushes me into the wall. I grunt in pain.

"Aw, is it too much for little Luke Ross?"

"Hell no."

"Let's end this right now." And we have a dance battle backstage. Amazingly, no one walks by, or sees us, or stops us. After about ten minutes, I'm running through one of my moves and Kris snickers.

"Ugh, I can do that so much better." She comes and does the move. We're dancing against each other and together at the same time. I dance towards Kris and she starts backing up, to give herself some room. She eventually hits the wall and I stand right in front of her.

"Wall isn't very nice, is it? How does that feel?" Kris just growls at me and stares at me. Before I know what I'm doing, she grabs me by my collar and pulls me to her mouth. I smirk against the kiss and kiss her back. We make out for a good few minutes before we realize our mistake. We jump apart.

"I'll see you at school, Ross, so I can brag in your face about my win." And with that, she walks away. Gosh, that kiss was amazing. I turn and walk the other way, shaking my head.

She's a competitor now. That kiss meant nothing. She was just trying to get into your head.

Well, it's not going to work.

Cause next week, Kris Mosley is going down.


End file.
